Asian-Americans and Hispanics Top the Early Adopter Chart

14.4% of Asian-Americans use tablets on a regular basis. Not a huge number, but when you compare it to the only 10% of blacks and whites, it presents a different picture.

A new study from eMarketer shows that Asian-Americans are on top when it comes to the early adoption of both tablets and ereaders.

Asian-American adoption rates are expected to stay high for the next few years. Felipe Korzenny, Ph.D., stated that this is likely due to the fact that Asians are more educated than average and they have higher incomes. But what’s driving the early adoption among Hispanic users?

Hispanics come in second for tablet ownership with 12.6%. eMarketer predicts that it will be 2013 before Non-Hispanic whites catch up and 2014 before they take the lead.

As for ereaders, language is a big factor. Hispanics who primarily speak English had 20% adoption rate for e-readers. Spanish-speaking Hispanics came in next with 15%.

Good Intentions

When it comes to the wish list, Spanish-speaking Hispanics also take the top with 41% saying they intend to purchase a tablet within the next year. On the bottom of the intention list? Non-Hispanic Whites with only 22%.

35% of Asian-Americans said they intended to buy a tablet in 2012. The study also found no appreciable difference in usage and intent when divided by age.

So, what to make of all this data? Well, for one thing, it looks like there’s a big market for Spanish e-books. Beyond that, the high intent to purchase numbers makes Asian-Americans a great audience for new technology ads.

If your tech marketing is aimed at Whites – looks like you’re going to have to work a little harder and wait a little longer to see big rewards.

Felipe

Cynthia, can you please give me a link to the document that gives the procedures (or at least sample size) of this study? I want to know how they actually got those numbers.